5 tips on how to beat India this Sunday!

This Sunday’s clash between India and Pakistan is bound to bring the roof down! The already sold out Adelaide Oval stadium is bound to break a million hearts as well as uplift countless souls when the dust has settled. Indo-Pak cricket clashes have always been titanic and tumultuous to say the least. Hopeful as we all are, there is still no denying the fact that the Indians have beaten us at the mega event in all five encounters we have had.

Capitalize on our bowling- as always

Our bowling attack has suffered no doubt due to ace bowlers Saeed Ajmal being barred from bowling and Junaid Khan getting injured, still all is not lost. The Pakistani bowling attack can salvage a wonderful comeback with Muhammad Irfan’s deadly bouncers unsettling the Indian batsmen or Wahab Riaz’s timely swinging yorkers skittles the Indian batsmen! It is up to captain Misbah to inspect his ace bowlers in the nets and groom inexperienced Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali to rise to the occasion. In Pakistan bowling we trust!

Watch out for the Kohli-Dhoni magic!

Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are two individuals who should be on the Pakistani bowlers radars! The boys in green need to put pressure on these two batsmen especially and leave no stone unturned in unsettling them as soon as they walk out to the pitch. Any loose deliveries, and you’re bound to be thrashed by these two! Early dismissals of Dhoni and Kohli will ensure a low Indian batting score and that is enough to seal the fate in favor of Pakistan!

Open with precaution and precision!

Pakistan open with aggressive batsman Ahmed Shahzad and Nasir Jamshed. Whilst on a good day, Shahzad can deliver a good drubbing to the Indian bowling side yet it is Nasir Jamshed who holds a stellar record against India in the past (making two ODI hundreds in a single series) on whom all expectant eyes will be set.

When you win the toss, bat first!

The Indian bowling attack is at its weakest, without the likes of spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacer Ishant Sharma. Pakistan should opt to bat first and pose an imposing total of anything more than three hundred runs. The Indian batting lineup will have to take risks to chase a mammoth total, resulting in their loss of wickets. Conversely, Pakistan opting to bowl first and failing to restrict India to anything below three hundred runs will result in the opposite happening to our side. Our batting is weaker than theirs, mind you!

Captain calm- now is the time to act!

Captain Misbah, now is the time to take things seriously! We need our captain to attack the Indians with might and main, invoke counsel with other players and disarm the Indians with shrewd strategy. In a game of cricket, psychological tactics make a huge impact. We need Misbah to be involved in each and every phase of the game, much like Imran Khan and Muhammad Hafeez used to.

We hope team Pakistan adopts all five points that we have highlighted above. Only with a great deal of risk, boldness and good decisions, will we be able to alter history and carve out a win for Pakistan in a world cup fixture against India!